<p>Visited University of Rochester for the first time yesterday and ate lunch in the Douglass Dining Hall. This was--by far--the least impressive dining hall of any school I have visited, really just a glorified food court with not much selection.</p>
<p>Is this an accurate representation of the dining options at the school or was it scaled back because it's summer?</p>
<p>I will be the first one to tell you that food is not one of the things that Rochester compares favorably with other schools of it’s Caliber. I have visited many campuses and I know what is out there.</p>
<p>With that said, please don’t base your impression of the school food with what you saw on campus yesterday. This is completely a summer set up. If you looked closely, you will notice that right next door, Wilson Commons has construction going on in it. The dining place in this building is the only eating that is usually open during the summer. It is being remodeled this summer and so they moved everything to Douglas.</p>
<p>By moving things to Douglas, they also moved the menu over. From my experience during the year and this summer that I am here, the food at Wilson Commons, except for Starbucks, is not the best on campus. Granted it’s quick and okay but during the year, the REAL menu at Douglas is much better!</p>
<p>If you also noticed, you will see that there were some food areas in Douglous that are just not open. The Kosher, Veggie area, and the BBQ area are not open this summer.
The simple answer is that what you see as Douglas’s menu this summer is just a scaled down version of mixed menu from Wilson Commons and Douglas during the year. It is much better when school starts.</p>
<p>good post, Zobasity… I think you are spot on. I eat on campus once a week at best, so my opinion is not as accurate, but I think the food is good during the school year. Though it may not be 5-star, I have had much, much worse. The good news is, the student government has accomplished a lot in the last 4-years to improve dining during the school year.</p>
<p>Danforth dining hall changes up its menu everyday, so that’s always a plus if you’re tired of the other places on campus. It’s honestly not as bad as everyone might make it out to be.</p>
<p>I’ve eaten at a fair number of schools and there isn’t much real difference, except for relative variety & number of places to eat, both of which depend mostly on size. There are perceived differences; some schools seem to have more of a history of food negativity, some talk about how great it is, some don’t care. I think it’s more a function of social feedback than actual, objective differences in taste or quality.</p>